Circuit breaker operator



Dec. 8, 1931. 1 Q REA 1,835,083

C IRCUIT BREAKER OPERATOR Filed Aug. 2, 1926 5 Sheets-Sheet l Dec. 8, 1931.

J. C. REA

CIRCUIT BREAKER OPERATOR Filed Aug. 2, 1926 5 Sheets-$heet 2 8, 1931. .1.c. REA

CIRCUIT BREAKER OPERATOR 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Aug. 2, 1926 .vll/11411@ Dec. 8, 1931. J. c. REA 1,835,083

C IRCUI T BRVEAKER OPERATOR Filed Aug. 2, 1926 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 Dec. 8, 1931-. J. c. REA

CIRCUIT BREAKER OPERATOR Filed Aug. 2. 1926 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 hun d d Patented Dec. 8, 1931 PATENT OFFICE JAMES C. REA, OF SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA CIRCUIT BRE-AREE OPERATOR Application led August 2, 1926. Serial No. 126,368.

This invention relates generally to systems for automatically operating an electrical circuit breaker.

In electrical power transmission systems it o is customary practice to provide a circuit breaker for opening the supply lines responsive to an abnormal condition such as an excessive load. It frequently happens that this abnormal Vcondition is temporary, as

for example a fiash over on a lightning arrester7 so that in order to prevent discontinuance of service until the breaker can be reset by hand, it is desirable to provide automatic mechanism for effecting this operation immediately after tripping of the breaker.

Thus it has been previously proposed to provide mechanism which will close the breaker a number of times after it has been tripped,

the mechanism functioning in such a manner that if the breaker remains closed after any reclosing operation, thus showing that the abnormal condition has been removed,

the operation of the mechanism is arrested.

Prior-systems of this character are complicated and unreliable in operation. They usually utilize at least two motive means, one for closing the breaker and the other for operating the timing mechanism. Being of complicated construction they have been diicult to install in connection with standard oil circuit breakers.

Itis accordingly an object of this invention to devise an automatic control mechauism which may be readily incorporated with a standard type of circuit breaker.

It is a further object of this invention to devise a control mechanism in which both the timing and breaker closing operations are efnrad 0 fected by a single motive means.

It is a further object of this invention to construct breaker control mechanismL which will give proper timing of the closing operation after tripping of the breaker.

E It is a further object of this invention to utilize the mechanical drive connection between the reclosing motor and the breaker as a, means for timing the reclosing operations.

It is another object of this invention to generally simplify and improve mechanism rshown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a side elevational view showing the details of the timingr mechanism.

Fig. 4 is a cross sectional view taken along the line 4-4 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary View of the timing 70 mechanism illustrating the operation of the same.

Fig. 6 is a. detail view showing the construction of the timing disc.

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary cross sectional 75 view illustrating the construction of the hand reset.

Fig. S is a side elevational view of the Inotor driven reclosing crank.

Fig. 9 is a circuit diagram of the circuit 80 breaker and its associated switches.

Fig. 10 is a circuit diagram of the complete system.

T he invention comprises generally a single motive unit such as an electric motor which is energized upon tripping of the circuit breaker. This motor actuates both the timing mechanism and furnishes the power to close the breaker. Control mechanism is provided which serves to deenergize the motor if the breaker does not trip after the lapse of a predetermined period following a closing operation, or to deenergize it after the breaker has been repeatedly closed a number of times. Referringrto the drawings, the mechanism has been shown as incorporated with a single phase circuit breaker although it is obvious that it may be employed with polyphase breakers or with breakers adapted for lever 14 being usually provided for this pur;Y

pose. rlhe mechanism for automatically reclosingV the switches is applied d.irectly.to...v

this shaft 13 as a substitute or supplemental control to the hand lever 14.

vThe `automatic vreclosing mechanism includes generally an electric motor M which 'is mechanically connected to the shaft 13 through a drive connection.including a suitabletrai'n of reducing gears 16. Thisr drive Vconnection is such thatwhen the motor is energized the shaft 13 is given recurrent angular movement to reclose the breaker. Y ln order to automaticahy control closingf ofthe circuit breakermeans are `provided vto ini-` tiate operation Yofftie motor automatically upon tripping ofthe .ircuit breaker. i@lifter this operation has .been initiated the motorv Y will continue to reclose the breaker a p redef intervals.

terni'ined number of' times at regular spaced lf the breakerA remains closed after anyone of' these reclosing operations the motor is automatically deenergized to prevent'fi'irther closing. The motor is'v also deeneigized if no permanent closing occurs aftera predetermined number ofA closing operations has occurred. rilhe principalportion ofthe mechanism for effecting the above operations fhasbeen indicated generally at 19 and is mounted Within a housing 20 within which' the gear train 16y is also disposed. This housing also forms a suitablemounting for the motorlil, the entire housing therefor forming a unit vvhichlis mountednpon a suitable bracket' 21 secured to the circuit breaker frame 11.V i f y The gear train 16' may be of anysuitable construction which will properly reduce the speed of the motor shaft. Thustlie motor shaft'22has been shown as directly coupled to.l apsuitable worm 23 meshing with a worm gear 24.` Gear'24A is ournaled loosely upon a Vsleeve 25 and carries the planetary p inions 26 and/2T upon a journal 'pin 28, the pinion 27 being of slightly smaller diameter and i'eflwvith respect to the'pinion 26.. Pinion V26 lmeshes with. a ring gear 23 Whichis'lixed With respect'to'tlie housing, while pinion ,27 meshes with a` movable ring gear 30. Gear 30 is fi'xedrwith respect to the sleeve 25 so that upon rotation ofthe worm 23ithe sleeve V25 will be revolvedpat'agreat-ly .reduced speed. Vfithin-the. sleeve (25 vthere isjournaled au shaft-31 Whichis extendedout be-V f yonclthfe Icover. plate V32V of then housing, a

crank 33 being iiXedly mounted upon-this extension.v Between the shaft 31 and the sleeve 25 there is a lost motion connection so that the shaft 31 may be free to move through an angle of at least 130 degrees with respect to the sleeve 25. rlhis lost motion connection forA example maybe in the form 'with a pivotal connection 39 to a lever 40 which is fixed to the shaft 13. Instead of causing Vthe motor 'M to Vsupp-ly the Vpower directly to rotate the shaft 13 ina. direction to reelose the breaker, the motor is caused. to store up energy and then this stored `up energy is utilized to effect the i'eclosing opera'- tion. Thus one end of rod 41'is pivotally connected toa crank 33`asbymeans of'pin 37', the other end Vof this .rod abutting kvagainst a suitable compression, spring 42.' The rod 41 is slidably Vdisposed within a suitable guide 'lock' 43,"this. block being pivotally mountedV upon asuitablebracket 44., TheupperA end olfztlie'compressionfspring 42.is adapted to abut against thelowerside ofthe guide block 43 so' that the spring-serves togtensionthe rod 41 to rotate'the `shaft31 in a direction to pull down upon the rod 38.' The. pivotal mounting. 39 between the rod 38 and the lever "40)preferably'includes aA 'sleeve 46 Within which the *rodV 38V is slidably disposed and whichis pivotally secured tothefend- Vof 'the arm'40'.V Agcollar 47 liked tothe rod 38 serves to limitthe upward lmovement of thef'rodl38 vitlr respect to the sleeve 46 While a collar 48 also iixed tothe rod33 is tensioned fromthe upper side ofthe sleeve Yby" means of a com# pression sprin'g'49.4 Y

` The operation ofthe motor drive connection described above'is as'vfoll'o'ws: When the moto-r is operated Jjthe sleeve 25 is causedA to slowly rotate sayin a clockwise direction. 1When theV lug 34 engages stop' 3Gth'e shaft 31 moves together with the sleeve 25 to move the rod 33 upwardly. During this movement of the shaft'31 the spriifig'42v is'be'ingv com- 7 pressed 4store up sufhcient'energy to reset. the breaker. Vfheir the rod 38 hasl reached v the limit of 'its upward' movement the latch mechanism within theV circuit breaker is engaged and the rod 41 is `'pulling against-the deacvceniter position of the-pivot vpin=-37 and. d

sliaft31. Furthermovement of the shaft'3l carries pivot` pin 37 past dead center posi tion and since the shaft 31 vis'free-to moveat least ldegreeswith respect to sleeve 25,` the spring-42 will quickly'revolve shaft 31 to complete its. revo-lutionandbringjit` back to its starting` point. During this latterfpart of the'revolution of shaft 31 the rod l38 is pulled downwardly to rotate the shaft k13 and reset the breaker. The spring 49 serves to cushion this return movement and prevent breaking of the parts As the motor M operates at a definite speed it will be obvious that these reclosing operations will occur at regular timed intervals. The mechanism for controlling the recurrent closing operations may be mounted upon a suitable sub-base 35 secured to a partition 51 of the housing 20 and includes a switch C for opening and closing the motor circuit, this switch including a stationar contact 52 and movable contact 53 bias to open position by suitable means such as a spring 54. The switch C is normally held in closed position until a predetermined number of recurrent closing o rations have occurred. Thus there is provi ed a toggle connection 55 comprising a pair of pivotally connected links 56 and 57, the link 56 having a suitable pivotal connection 58 with the movable contact 53, while the link 57 is provided with a pivotal connection 59 to the stationary base 35. The links 56 and 57 form a toggle which when moved to a position slightly pastits dead center against the stop `60 will main- Vtain the switch C closed, but when the toggle is broken as shown in Fig. 5 theswitch is opened. The breaking of this toggle connection is controlled yby means of a pivotally mounted toothed segment 61 which is normally constrained to rotate in one direction by means of a holding pawl 62 which is normally pressed against the teeth of the segment 61 by meansof the armature 63 of the holding magnet 64.l The segment`61 is normally biased to rotate in a clockwise direction as by means 0f a tension spring 65. A pin or projection 66 upon the segment 61 serves to abut the link 57 to break the toggle after the segment has been rotated a certain amount in a. counter-clockwise direction.

The segment 61 is stepped up a certain amount for every successive reclosing oper ation. The step up mechanism includes a rotatable timing disc 68 provided with a` suitable insulating mounting 67 to the extended end 69 of the sleeve 25. The disc 68 there fore rotates at the same speed 'as the ring gear 30. The disc 68 is recessed or cut away as at 70 to receive a linger 71 which is pivotall v mounted with respect to the disc as at 72. Upon every revolution of the timing gear 68 this finger 71 is adapted to engage and actuate a step up lever 73 which engages the toothed segment 61. Thus the finger 71 is provided with a cam face 74 adapted to engage the cam face 75 provided upon the lever 73 so that upon rotation of the disc 68 in a clockwise direction the cam face 74 will engage face 75 to rotatethe step. up lever 73 in a clockwise direction'. Oppositely inclined 4 cam faces 76 and 77 are also provided to insure a quick return of the step up lever 73 after the lever 73 has reached the limit of its clockwise movement. These latter cam faces also cause limited rotational movement of the finger 7l with respect to the timing disc for a purpose later to be described. The step up lever 73 is preferably normally biased to move in a counter-clockwise direction as by means of a compression spring 78, and has pivotally mounted upon its free end a stepping pawl 79. A spring normally biases the stepping pawl to rotate in a counter-clockwise direction with respect to the stepping lever, and a stop 81 is adapted to engage the projecting end 82 of the pawl when the stepping lever is rotated in a counter-clockwise direction. Thus when the finger 71 causes the lever 73 to rotate in a clockwise direction the pawl 79 is also permitted to rotate to bring it into engagement with the toothed segment 61.

In order to make it possible to reset the toggle connection which controls the switch C there is provided a resetting magnet 84 which is adapted to actuate an armature 85. This armature is provided with a finger 86 which .is adapted to engage the member 87 extended from the link 56 so that when the armature is moved towards the magnet 84 the link 56 is rotated to again bring the toggle connection past its dead center position. As a supplement to the remote control of magnet 84 a manual reset device may be also provided. Thus there has been shown a control knob 88 extended out through the front housing cover 89, this control knob being f mounted upon the end of a rotatable shaft 90 which is fixed to the pivoted end of link 57. Therefore by a manual rotation of knob 88 the toggle connection may be reset without energization of magnet 84.

Associated with the timing disc 68 are the switches A and B which perform functions to be presently described. Switch A for example may comprise merely a spring metal strip 92 suitably mounted upon an insulating block 93, and carrying a contact 94 at its free end which is adapted to make slidable electrical contact with the contacting face of the timing disc 68, this disc being made of suitable electrical conducting mate- 1 rial. Switch B may similarly comprise a spring metal strip 95 carrying a contact 96 which engages the face or disc at a pointl diametrically opposite from the position of contact 94. Electrical connection is made to the disc through a suitable strip 97 also mounted upon the insulating block 93 and electrically contacting adjacent the central portion of the disc. The portion of the finger 71 which rides under the contact 96 is preferably recessed as at 98 or otherwise constructed so that the electrical connections between the contact 96 and the finger 71 will be broken for an interval following escape ment of the cam face 74 past the cam face 75. i

' In Votherv wordswhen` theV di'scGS is rotated v gagev and break the contact betweencontact 94l1otswitch A and the disc duringthe=in terval that switch B is openedby movement of linger 71. 5

In order to more clearly describe the op-V eration` of the device the circuit breaker and its` associated tripping mechanism Vh-asrbeen illustrated dia frairnnaticall in.' Fi 9. g Y g Thus the breaker switchesV 11 haver been shown as insertediu the single phase power supply linesA L1 and 112,. these i breaker switches each comprising movable contact elementslOO which are adapted to be moved in unison by suitable'mechanismsuch;as a reciprocating rod 101 connected to the cranks 102. .Movement ot the. rod 101 has been shown. as controlled by asliding member 103 whichA in turnfismoved by an actuator'104. The slidable member 103' is normally biased kin a direction to open the movable switch ele-v ments`100 as indicated by the tensionfspring 105.v nterengag-'ing between theV actuator lOllfand the slidable memberl 10dY therey isf a trigger 106 which isnormallybiased in engagedposition andiwhich mayfbe released.

byl a-.trippingy solenoid 108; Thetripping solenoid may be. energized trom-a suitable source ot current such as` abattery109 and is controlled-by a solenoidswitchfK which is connected to a suitablev current-transformer 110. Y When an abnormal load is-placed upon the linethe solenoidV switchlis closed to energize .the tripping solenoid 108 and thus release thetrigger 106 to permit theslidable member .103 to move in a direction to `open the breaker switches.- rlhe resetting mecha.-

, nism has beenindicated comprising` the ro-.

tatable shaft 13 connected to the actuator 104 by links 111 and 112. Then-the shaft 13. is

rotatedinv a clockwise direction. as by movement ot arm 40. connected to rod 38, the trigger ismoved to. engagingposition with the shdable member 103, and then movement of Vthe shaft 13. in the reverse directionserves to returngthe slidable member 103'to its Aoriginal position in which the/breaker switches are closed.` V.li/lanual control ot' the breaker may be secured by closing the switchH which Lessons cally asbeing:incorporated withY the moving; parts; of; lthe circuit' breaker so as to Y, be

openedl upon tripping of.` the breaker, the switch being in ser-ies with the solenoid A108 in. order to. openf the circuit through this solenoid after-'thercircuiti breaker hasV been tripped. Other switches E and G have been similarly incorporated so vasto be closed upon moving.l ot: the circuit breaker to open posi. tion, thesezswitches being incorporated with thesystein infthenianner presently'to be described. .Y

Eig. 10V illustrates "diagrammatically the enti-re circuit arrangement, the; various switches'being shown as grouped'together to indicate the arrangement upon the switch board,V .the-circuit breaker,v and the. reclosing mechanism. `.The bus; conductors 8 air-ideare energizedfromA av suitable source of' current, such asabattery. 114. Themotor has been sho-wn'as connected across ythe bus conductors in series withswitch C, switch-Elo.- cated-on the. circuit breaker; and the manual control switch N- which is located on .the switch board. lThe holdingmagnetV 64 has been shownas.connect-ed acrossthe bus conductors in series with switches A and B. A

second shunt path for` current iowing through themagrlet 64 is: provided by switch G located on .the Vcircuit breaker and remote control'switch Rzlocated'on the switch board. Switch Gfisalsoplaced yiny shunt with switch A. by'. meansnof conductor i5. .The resetting magneti 84S is .controlled 'byV a .series switch Lw-hich is also located upon the switch board so that the. mechanism Vatterbeing tripped may be reset-'trema remote: point.

'n'explaining the; operation ofthe system it will be presumed-thattlie switchN is closed7 switch.Rrisopenfthat the circuit breaker is initially' closed,` and V correspondingly that switch D is closed :whileswitches G and E are open. At this time the motor controlswitch C will also-be closed by the toggle connection butithe motor will not'be energized as the switches E andB are' open. Now if an abnormal'V load occurs upon the line the switch K is closed and :solenoid 108'energiz'ed'to trip'the breaker. V` Asth-e'breaker opens the switch D is openedv to break. thev circuit through the tripping solenoidy and switches E and G are closed. The motor'Misthen actuated to Isimultaneously rotate the crank 83 and the'timing disc'G'S, rotation-of the crank 33serving to compress spring 42.' As the timing disc'passes the first half 'of its revolution the crankipasses its dead center position and the'sp'ring42. then causes th'e crank to quickly complete its' movementand pulls downward upon the rod *38to1 close thebreaker .tor-.the first time. The timing disc how-v ever,y as it isf directly connected'to the ring gearBO-, continues `to rotate at thesamespeed until the Enger V71 comes into contact'with the stepping .up lever' 3. :Continued moving.

of the disc serves to rotate the stepping up lever 73 in a clockwise direction to move the segment 61 a suilicient distance to engage the next notch with the holding pawl 62. At this time the holding pawl 62 will be retained in engagement with the toothed segment since the holding magnet 64 will be energized. The circuit for the holding magnet 64 may be either traced through the switch A or through switch G, and thencethrough either switch B or switches (LE and N. Vhenthe disc 68 has rotated sufficiently far to permit return of the stepping up lever 7 3 and to rotate the finger 71 into a position to break theielectrical connection between the disc and the switch element 95 of switch B, then the circuit through the motor may or may not be deenergized depending upon whether the circuit breaker has remained closed after the closing operation. If the circuit breaker has remained closed then switches E and Gr have remained open. At this instant during the rotation of the timing disc the insulating pin 99 is engaging the switch element 92 of switch A so that this switch is also open. Thus when the breaker remains closed a condition occurs in which after the first revolution of the timing disc, switches A, B, E and G are all open with the result that the circuit to the motor Will be broken and the motor will arrest operation of the disc before it has moved suiiiciently far to again close the switches A and B. The holding magnet 64 will also be deenergized to release the segment 61 and permit it to return to its original position.

In case however that the abnormal condition upon the line has not been removed before the first reclosing operation, then the circuit breaker will not remain closed and will immediately trip to again close switches E and Gr. Therefore during the interval that switches A and B are opened during rotation of the timing disc the holding magnet 64 will be energized through a circuit traced through f switch Gr, and through switches C, E and N,

while the motor will continue to be energized through a circuit traced through switches C, E and N. The timing disc will therefore start upon its second revolution and .the crank 33 will again be actuated to reclose the breaker a second time. After the second reclosing the disc again completes its revolution, switches- A and B `are momentarily opened. As in the first reclosing operation, if the abnormal condition has been removed from the line and the breaker remains closed, then the holding magnet 64 and the motor M will be deenergized to arrest further vmovement and reset the toothed segment.

toothed segment 61 up another notch. Upon the third revolution the breaker is again reclosed for the third time and if the breaker does not remain closed the disc continues to rotate for its fourth revolution after which the toothed segment is notched suiiiciently far to bring projection 66 into contact with the link 5i" of the connecting toggle, thus breaking the contact and permitting opening of the switch C. Simultaneous with the completion of this fourth revolution the switches A and B are opened and thus the circuit is opened to the holding magnet 64 and motor M so that the mechanism comes to rest. y'the only manner in which the mechanism ma y then be reset is to energize the resetting magnet 84, thus moving the armature 55 to return its toggle to its dead center position, or to rotate the manual resetting knob 88. Upon returning the toggle to its dead center position the switch C will again be closed and the reclosing mechanism will again begin its cycle of movement. The resetting magnet Sa may be controlled by switch L located at a remote point as upon the switch board. Automatic control of the motor may be arrested by opening the remote switch N and direct control established by closing switch R. Manual tripping of the breaker may also be effected by closing the manual switch H which is shunted across the solenoid switch K. Manual resetting of the breaker may also be accomplished by the use of the hand lever 14, the pivot pin 39 being detachable to permit movement of the hand lever independent of the automatic reclosing mechanism.

It is obvious that by varying the number of teeth in the segment 61 anynumber of reclosing operations may be effected before deenergization of the motor. rl'he single motor not only serves as the source of power for reclosing the breaker but also serves as a means for timing the reclosing operations and the operations of the various switches. Before the lirst closing operation the timing disc travels only one half of a revolution while between the first and second reclosing operations and between the second and third the disc must travel one complete revolution. Therefore the time interval between the initial tripping of the breaker and the firstreclosing operation will be approximately one half the time interval between the iirst and second reclosing operationsand between the second and third. This is a very desirable characteristic of my system since if the abnormal condition upon the line is only temporary it is usually removed before the first reclosing operation. By making this interval as short as possible theservice is again established almost immediately upon tripping of the breaker.

I claim:

1. Apparatus ofthe character described er' for recloslng said breaker. at recurrent -ifn'- for' effect-ing operationof a circuitbreaker,

said breaker being'adapted to tripy open responsive to ank abnormal lineV condition,y said app)farai-'usYy comprising means adapted tro-'be operated upon-,opening of the circuit breaker for reclosing: said breaker at recurrent'intervals; a-timingmember'moved during opera-V tienoi the reclosing. means, and means including a switch- .reci-irrently engaged(V by the lO-ftiming member subsequent toeachreclosing operationr for arresting operation ofthe reclo's'inglmeans iii thebreaker remains closed ater'one of the closing operations.

-22-15pparatus of the character described:

" for effectingeperation of a` circuit breaker,

saidf breaker being adapted te trip open responsive to an; abnermaill line cindition, said apparatuscomprising amotor adapted to be energized'npon tripping of the breaker, drive means adapted to-eon-nect the motorV and breaker-to effect recurrentv reclnsmg operations uponl tripping of the 'breaker a timing member actua-tedt-rom saidl motor7 switch Y means-recurrentlfy actuated by said* member a subsequent-to eachf-reclosmg operation for' Y y deenergizing'the-motor in case the breaker remains elosedi after a` closing operation, and

switch meansactuated-by the timing member to d'eenergize the motorafter the occurrencel i off al predetermined number ofVs-uccess-ive re- A to effect clesing operation, a timingmember dri-ven- -f-romsaid motor', meansincluding another-member engaged and actu-atedby Said timing member for effectingV opening of the Amotor circuit-after a predetermined number of repeated closing operationshave eccurr-'ed and if the abnormalE condition-cis not removed-,- andA means including a switch act-u 'ated bysa-id timing member after each clos'- ingoperationto eect-epening of the motor circuiti-'if the breaker remains closed.

4; Apparatus-'of the character described for opera-ting` a circuit breaker7 said breaker beingadapted to tripopen responsive to an abnormall line condition, said apparatus comeV prisin'g moti-Vemeans adapted to be made opera-tire upon opening of the circuit break-- v terVa-ls,v a timingmember moved thru af cycle by' said motive means for reach closingoperafl tion, means including aswitch operateduponeach cyclic movement ofsaid timing member Y subsequent to-each closing operation fordeenergizing' said motivemean's it' the breaker" remains closed after a closing operation,v andl Y means inaddition to said switch orj deenjerc determined number` of continuous. cyclic;

movements; of. said; timingmember.,

Apparatuso' thai-class;- described;` fer eiiecting reclosing operation. of: af circuit breaker comprising a. member f adapted. to be actuated to. cl-osesaid breaker5 a -sprin'g-1 gOractuating salda member7A a motoryfor storlng,

energy in said? spring adaptedtobe energizedupon tripping offthe circuitbreakerra toggle link, controllingl at 'pair of contacts in the-` mot-.or circuit and means for breaking*said;l

toggle link-attenV a predetermined number oii closing` operations tok maintain` said@ cent-actsY open and; saidmotor"dez-energized.,V

Intestnnony whereof,` I have hereuntoset luy-'hand'.

- .c JAMESC., RIE-A.

lerf

iin

gizing said motive meansrespon'sive tel a plel 

